President's Park South project may route cyclists off E Street NW

Back in early July, The National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Secret Service (Secret Service) held a public open house on the joint-agency President's Park South Project. This project will redesign the park immediately south of the White House including E Street, N.W. between 15th and 17th Streets, Washington, D.C. E Street was closed after 9/11 and has never been reopened creating quite a barrier to cyclists (pedetrians can get through their OK, but on a bike it is a massive hassle). See earlier posts on this here, here and here.

The NCPC contest was non-binding (but it "informed" the process), and so the four new alternatives presented at the July meeting are very different from the ones in the NCPC contest.

Two of the alternatives (2 & 3) include a bicycle path along the southern edge of E Street and the two others (4 & 5) route bicyclists around the existing perimeter streets (15th Street, Constitution Avenue and 17th Street). The latter two do this to create an expanded viewing area south of the existing fence - the shaded purple area on the image below. [1 is the no build option]

I think it would be a shame if this project didn't include a space for a bike path on E Street. I don't see why they can't expande the viewing area and include the bike path - the two do not seem mutually exclusive. Isn't that what we have on the north side of the White House?

Anyway, if you'd like to comment to that effect, public comments are being accepted until September 12th at this website. Comment early and often.

What kind of bike advocate does nothing but belly-ache about other bike advocates, insulting them constantly and holding themselves out to be SO MUCH smarter than everyone else, when it is clear they're an idiot?

Well, if they opened it down to Constitution providing an alternative to the crazy traffic, vendors, and sidewalks between PA and Constitution on 15th, then I would be happy. But as it exists now, folks can go 2 blocks north then west without much problem.

I did laugh reading the NPS site: 'closed the section of E Street, NW within President's Park South to unauthorized vehicular traffic." They seem to believe temproary and indefinitely are one in the same.

delete this, try going around on Constitution on one of the days when the Pennsylvania Ave. cut through and the ellipse route are closed (happens quite often), then you'll see why it would be a benefit to have a path on E Street. It's not just an inconvenience, it's dangerous.

My commute takes me around the Ellipse, which indeed is closed to everyone about 5-10% of the time. It is the ONLY safe crosstown route in the one mile stretch of downtown D.C. south of H/I; otherwise, it's Constitution or Independence, both of which are commuter sewers (and it's debatable whether H/I/K are as well). Because yes, a one-mile detour in the middle of the country's second-biggest CBD is no biggie.

The NPS website currently states that bicyclists are welcome on all roads and paths within Presidents' Park.